The Colorado Public Utilities Commission OK’d changes to a quirky billing and crediting method, reversing an earlier ruling to make solar gardens more accessible to residential and low-income customers.

Solar gardens allow customers to buy or lease solar panels connected to the utility grid and then receive credit on their electric bill.

When the program was initially set up, the commission and stakeholders unintentionally created a system that gave large consumers disproportionately more billing credits, said Karen Gados, chief of staff for SunShare, a community solar company. It also allowed the utility to charge solar companies to take their renewable energy, instead of the other way around. Those costs were passed on to customers, meaning large customers were the only ones able to economically benefit from solar gardens.

Now the credits will be distributed more equitably among large commercial and individual residential customers, and Xcel will pay 3 cents per kWh of power generated by the gardens.

“The bottom line is it’s going to mean more access to community solar gardens for more Coloradans,” said Colorado Solar Energy Industries Association chief Rebecca Cantwell.. “It’s going to eliminate this uncertainty that was hanging over the market, and it takes off this idea of negative renewable energy credits, or solar developers having to pay the utility to put solar on the system.”

In March, the PUC denied a settlement among Xcel, SunShare, Clean Energy Collective and Community Solar Energy, largely because of insufficient information that made the commission worry it would lead to more costs.

The PUC granted a rehearing, and at a evidentiary hearing June 1, the utility and solar companies better explained the benefits of the settlement.

The solar companies and advocates were happy with the PUC decision, saying it allows the solar garden industry to grow in Colorado.

“This decision cleared up some uncertainty in the rate structure,” Community Energy Solar president Eric Blank said. “It now allows a prior set of projects to move forward and gives clarity to the next round.”

Although PUC Commissioner Joshua Epel said he was glad the solar garden issue was cleared up, he expressed frustration that the initial settlement lacked sufficient details.

“It’s worth it once again to stress to parties that settlement has to be well supported with the facts necessary to allow the commission to have a sound basis to determine the settlement is indeed in the public interest,” Epel said.

In 2014, the PUC directed Xcel to acquire between 19.5 and 90 MW of community gardens by the end of 2016. SunShare, Clean Energy Collective and Community Energy Solar were the winning bidders in Xcel’s 2015 competitive solicitation for 29.5 MW of community solar gardens.

UPDATED at 12:20 p.m. July 1, 2016: This story has been updated to clarify the billing relationship between community solar companies and Xcel Energy.

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